Luol Deng to the Lakers signals bigger role for Justise Winslow

With Luol Deng and Joe Johnson signing elsewhere, Justise Winslow is poised for a starting role with the Miami Heat.

After spending his rookie year coming off the bench, it seems Miami Heat forward Justise Winslow will be asked to take on a bigger role as starter in his sophomore season with Luol Deng and Joe Johnson agreeing to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz respectively.

Deng and the Lakers agreed on a four-year, $72 million deal and Johnson will take a two-year, $22 million deal, according to The Vertical.

The Heat simply didn’t have the cap space to compete with those offers. Deng in many ways revitalized his career in Miami after a stint with the Cavaliers, especially after this last All-Star break, when he moved to power forward. He was due for a big contract.

Johnson, who signed with the Heat after being bought out of his deal in Brooklyn, signed with the Heat for a minimum deal as he was still getting paid by the Nets. With his contract completely cleared, Johnson signed with Utah for about twice as much as the Heat could offer.

The Heat only have about $40 million in cap space, and nearly $24 million of that is going to Hassan Whiteside, who will sign a max deal to stay in Miami. The Heat still have to re-sign Dwyane Wade, and will also make a play for Kevin Durant.

For Winslow, this likely means he will be a starter next season. Deng was the starter at small forward at the beginning of the season, before taking over power forward duties after Chris Bosh suffered a season-ending illness. Winslow started briefly in Bosh’s absence before Johnson signed with the Heat, bumping Winslow from the starting lineup.

Winslow proved to be a strong perimeter defender, and coaches raved about his ability to make winning plays all season. He did, however, struggle shooting the ball, making just 42 percent of his shots and just 27 percent of his three-pointers.

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He will have to improve his jumper in a hurry or else have a negative impact on the team’s spacing. Miami’s starting lineup–already including non-shooters like Whiteside and, hopefully, Wade–cannot afford another below-average shooter.

But Winslow is a hard worker and, as a former lottery pick, has tons of untapped potential. The Heat will get a chance to see him try to crack that potential even more next season.